I grew up in Connecticut, received a great education at Avon High School, and made many lifelong friends. In my early 30s, my work took me from Connecticut to Boston for the next 30 years, but when I retired, I promptly moved back to our great state.
The only problem is that I seem to be part of only a small handful of people that think the state is great. One of my high school friends asked me (with a cynical face) “Why would you ever move back here from Boston?”
An electrician helping us with our new home said, “I didn’t know people moved into this state, I thought they only moved out.”
I have been thinking about this contradiction for a while now. How can two states that are side-by-side, have the same climate, and share a rich New England history, have such different attitudes from their residents?
For example, when people from the Boston suburbs travel and are asked by other travelers where they are from, they say “Boston” even though they are from a suburb outside of the city. They are proud of the city that is the hub of their lifestyle. Could you imagine residents of Avon or Glastonbury, while similarly traveling, say they were “from Hartford”?
When I ask my friends what’s behind their animosity towards Connecticut, you hear many of the same things that you read in the Courant: cost of living, high taxes, electricity costs, etc. But those aren’t reasonable answers.
Massachusetts ranks just ahead of Connecticut for residential electricity expenses, and they have similar state income taxes depending on household income (Connecticut is higher for middle income families, while the Bay State is higher for high income families).
The problem, as I see it, is the “pride factor.” I remember when I was in my 20’s, working in City Place, all of us 20-somethings would stay in the city after work and meet at Brown Thompson’s, 36 Lewis Street, or The Russian Lady.
The Civic Center would be packed for Whalers games. Would today’s 20-somethings ever believe us if we told them bands like The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Fleetwood Mac regularly scheduled Hartford on their tours?
Hartford-3.26.11– At the XL Center in Hartford, Gordie Howe, left, and his sons Mark, center, and Marty, right, waive as a banner is raised honoring their family during Saturday night’s Whaler’s game. The contributions to hockey of Gordie Howe’s wife Colleen, who passed away, were also honored. Tian Ann Chapman | [email protected]
A big catalyst would help such as creating tax incentives to get a major company to build a regional hub in our state. Getting the first olive out of the jar is the toughest, then the rest are easier. Pick one of the national state lists (Best Quality of Life, Best for Business, etc.) and make it a goal to be top five. Leverage those things that are working for the state such as the health care system and the UConn Huskies.
But we need a vision, and a plan to get little wins on our way to that vision. It is not going to come from our state legislature that keeps itself occupied with partisan squabbles, or our town governments whose only response to growth is NIMBY (not in my backyard). And it’s not going to come from a state slogan (“Make It Here”) without any substance behind it.
It needs to come from the governor’s office, and the legislature needs to be part of the team.
It seems to me (as a registered independent) that Lamont’s original vision to get the state’s finances, especially the underfunded pension, into some semblance of health was simple and effective.
He (mostly) unified our fractious state government into making the decisions that needed to be made. Now we know his next act will be focused on affordability, the overall message of Democrats going into the mid-terms. But Lamont is more talented than the Washington politicians so he should go bigger. We still need him to be our financial steward but what’s his vision to make our residents proud of where they live? And please, do not let our Democratic legislature spend our budget surplus without explaining to what end, in pursuit of what vision for the great state of Connecticut.
David Longfritz Bloomfield